Dayal Padmanabhan is Kollywood bound with Tamil remake of his award-winning film, Aa Karaala Ratri

Filmmaker Dayal Padmanabhan, who has won critical acclaim for films like Haggada Kone and Aa Karaala Ratri, is all set to begin the shoot for his Tamil debut directorial, Kondraal Paavam, on November 1. It is interesting to note that November 1 is Kannada Rajyotsava, and Dayal is predominantly a Kannada filmmaker.

The film, which was launched on October 28, has Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Santhosh Prathap in lead roles. Also part of the cast are Eswari Rao, Charle, Manobala, Jaya Kumar, Meesai Rajendran, Subramaniam Siva, Imran, Sendrayan, TSR Srinivasan, Yazar, Kavitha Bharathi, Thangadurai and Kalyani Mahadhavi.

Speaking to OTTplay ahead of the film's launch, an excited Dayal said, "Despite Tamil being my mother tongue, I have had to wait for many years to make my Tamil film debut. Today, Kondraal Paavam, which is my 20th directorial venture, marks my debut in the Tamil film industry. My patience and resilience has definitely paid off."

The shoot of the film is slated to begin in Hyderabad's Ramoji Film City. Kondraal Paavam is the Tamil remake of Dayal's 2018 Kannada film, Aa Karaala Ratri, which is based on a popular Kannada play by Mohan Habbu. The Kannada film stars Karthik Jayaram (JK) and Anupama Gowda, and won the Karnataka State Film Award for First Best Film (2018). JK was also nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the 8th South Indian International Movie Awards.

Aa Karaala Ratri was remade in Telugu as Anaganaga O Athidhi, which was also directed by Dayal. It was bankrolled by producer Allu Arvind for Aha Original. Dayal is now all set to get behind the cameras once again for its Tamil remake, Kondraal Paavam.

Dayal is a Tamilian from Villupuram who has directed 18 films in Kannada and one in Telugu. The two-time Karnataka State Award winner has also produced eight films in Kannada. Also an actor, he starred in the Ganesh-starrer Gaalipata, in which his character received critical and public acclaim.

The filmmaker has also dabbled in reality TV. He was a contestant for Bigg Boss Kannada Season 5.

Kondraal Paavam is being produced by Pratap Krishna and Manoj Kumar, and co-produced by Dayal Padmanabhan, who has also written the story, screenplay and is directing the film. He also shares the credits for penning dialogues with John Mahendran.